En-en adult card 41 permafrost

Card #41: Permafrost

Causes		Consequences
Temperature Rise ou Energy Budget		Other GHGs

Permafrost is permanently frozen ground.
Permafrost thawing leads to the decomposition of organic matter previously frozen underground, a phenomenon that releases methane and CO₂ into the atmosphere.
Beyond +2°C, it is almost certain this phenomenon will accelerate and make the climate spiral out of control.

Correction

Causes

• Temperature Rise

Consequences

• Other GHGs

Explanation

Permafrost is a soil that is permanently frozen for at least two consecutive years.

The two last cards to be added to the Collage after card 40 are potentially violent feedback loops or "climate bombs" which, if triggered, would cause us to lose control over the climate for good.

Thermokarst are veritable bioreactors at the heart of the process of releasing frozen carbon: when the permafrost thaws, pieces of soil detach and fall into the water, bringing nutrients and carbon to the bacteria and plankton present in the sea, which degrade them into CO₂ (in the water layers near the surface) and methane or CH₄ (in the oxygen-deprived bottom).

Facilitation advice

For online murals, you can show this video from the University of Alaska Fairbanks showing the flammable methane stored in the permafrost.

Other possible links

Other causes

Energy budget If we want to stay within the same logic of energy conservation, the thawing of the permafrost should be linked to the energy budget.

To go further

Climate Action Network France: Thawing permafrost carbon will increase global warming, 2018 (French)

RT France documentary: The mystery of permafrost (French)